Knuckles is Missing
by Sons of Ocelot
Summary: Ch. 11 Uploaded! Sonic and Tails go to see Knux, but when they learn he and the Master Emerald have gone missing, It's a race against time to save him and the world. Rated for some violence and mild, infrequent language. R&R and Enjoy!
1. Visiting with Knuckles

**Authors Note: Sonic and all other characters I'm gonna use are not owned by me. This is not a sequel to Knuckles' Party. It is completely different although some aspects of that story are reused. Again this is NOT a sequel to Knuckles' Party.**

Well my fellow Sonic fans, this is my second foray into this fandom. After the success (well I call it success, others call it a fluke) of my first comedic S.T.H. story I decided that I would try my hand a slightly more serious one.

This fic is rated T and as far as I can tell it will remain that way unless someone thinks it should be otherwise. And remember as was and will be in all of my Sonic fics, the characters are to be pictured as though they are twenty-ish.

Well let's get started then…

* * *

The little red biplane slowly descended and landed with a soft thud on the half-mile long runway. It was a warm summer day on the Floating Island. The sun shone through the sky which was completely cloudless, the Flickies could be heard

Sonic the hedgehog and his best buddy Miles "Tails" Prower climbed out of their aircraft and pushed it over to the large hangar that was located a few hundred feet from them. They had flown to the island to visit with their friend Knuckles, but the echidna was nowhere to be found. As they drew near the hangar Sonic noticed a note, that looked as though it had been scribbled down in a hurry, taped to the door:

"_Guys. Something has come up and I cannot meet up with you here. Just come to the house and we can catch up. I left the keys to my Jeep inside the hangar. See you later, Knuckles."_

"Huh, that's strange," stated Sonic.

"Yeah," began Tails, "I wonder what's going on?"

"Well there's only one way to find out," the blue blur answered him, "we're gonna have to find the keys to his Jeep and get over to the house,".

The two opened up the hangar doors and pushed the plane inside. Once the duo had the craft inside they searched for the keys to Knuckles most beloved vehicle. This was, however, a very tedious task. The reason being that the red echidna never got rid of anything and instead used the hangar as more of a storage closet than anything else. He possessed some of the rarest, as well as some of the most useless, things ever. He had a pair of sunglasses that let him see hidden items, a pair of steel claws so that he could dig through tough materials, a whole library of XBOX 360 games (he preferred his Sega Genesis over the 360), a large screen TV, his smashed DJ workstation which had been broken at the gangs last party at his home, as well as many other items.

Once they found the keys, which were hung up by the door, the two walked out around back to the shed which housed the jeep. Sonic pulled the door open and backed the jeep out of its' makeshift garage. Tails then proceeded to climb in and turned on the radio which blasted Knuckles' insanely loud techno music through the roof and, consequently, scared all of the Flickies away. After Sonic turned it down a bit they set off for Knuckles' home.

\\\ Ten Minutes Later ///

The little red jeep pulled up to Knuckles' mansion like home. Sonic and Tails never quite got over the sight of the thing.

It had three main floors which held four and a half bathrooms, five bedrooms including the echidnas' master suite, two game rooms, a large dining area, and a very wide open and spacious living room. Also, Knuckles had gone and completely remodeled his basement into what he called his "party room". The party room was where they held all of their big parties that lasted all night. It was carpeted, had completely insulated walls which had all sorts of designs printed on them in fluorescent paint, was furnished with a black leather couch and loveseat combo, and was lighted by regular and black light fluorescent bulbs as well as a disco ball. At the back of the room was a small bathroom which also held a secret entrance to the Emerald Chamber behind the medicine cabinet.

The two friends walked up to the door and knocked. After about a minute with no response Sonic knocked a bit harder, and, when no one answered after another two minutes, they let themselves in.

What they saw wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Knuckles. His home was a mess as it normally was. There were potato chips scattered about on the floor, the TV was on showing some rerun of the UFC's "Ultimate Fighter", and there were books and magazines splayed out on the coffee table. But something just didn't feel right about the whole thing:

"Tails," Sonic began, "I don't have good feeling about this,".

The two began to search the home for their friend, but to no avail. They searched all three floors and there was no sign of Knuckles anywhere.

"Maybe he just had to run to the store," suggested Tails trying to be optimistic, but it did not calm Sonic down.

"No, he would've called my cell if that were the case," Sonic said. That was when he noticed something that even Knuckles wouldn't do: the door to the party room was left opened.

Sonic cautiously walked over to the door and next to it found a small canister. He studied it for a moment, then sniffed the top of it and knew immediately what it was: "Nerve gas," he said aloud.

A look of horror slowly became etched on Tails' face. Sonic flipped on the light switch for the basement and proceeded down followed closely by his companion. At the foot of the stairs Sonic stopped and surveyed the room: the couch was flipped over, there were holes in the walls, a few of the light bulbs had been broken, and the disco ball lay shattered on the floor.

"There must've been a struggle," concluded the blue blur with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Look!" yelled Tails from the bathroom.

Sonic rushed into the small bathroom. The medicine cabinet which had once concealed the entrance to the Emerald Chamber was torn off of the wall and lay on the floor. Next to the entrance, another note was taped to the wall. This one was not in Knuckles hand writing, but Dr. Robotniks'.

"_Sonic and Tails, I have kidnapped Knuckles and have stolen the Master Emerald. The Floating Island will crash land on the rest of the planet in approximately seventy-two hours thus decimating half of the worlds population. If you want to save you're friend though you will have to do so within the next twenty-four hours or he will perish. Worst of luck to you, Dr. Robotnik."_

"Dammit," Sonic said under his breath, "Tails we've got to move. Let's go!"

And with that the two jumped into the secret entrance way to the emerald chamber to begin their search for Knuckles and the Master Emerald.

* * *

I'm baaaack. Yes that's right I've started a new fan fic that I'm sure will be just as good as the last one, though I'm not aiming for this to be a humorous one so some may be disappointed. Oh well. I've had the basic concept of this story on my computer for a while but when I started writing "Knuckles' Party" this idea just took a back seat. But now with the small amount of success of that particular fic I decided that this story needed to be told, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Anyways your thoughts, suggestions, praises, and criticisms are always welcome.

Sons of Ocelot


	2. Speculations

**Authors Note: Sonic and all other characters I'm gonna use are not owned by me.**

Well, hello again everyone. Before I start this next chapter I wish to give a big thanks to WolvenWindNinja & greenleafprince for their kind reviews. Also a thanks goes out to craZ4knux for adding this to their alert list. You all are the reason I'm here.

Last chapter Sonic and Tails had flown to the Floating Island to visit with Knuckles only to find out that Dr. Robotnik had kidnapped him and stolen the Master Emerald. They also learn that within less than twenty-four hours if they do not locate and rescue Knux he will be killed, and without him, locating and taking back the Master Emerald will be a near impossible task. Knowing this, the duo jumps into the secret passage way leading to the Emerald Chamber in search of Knuckles

So begins their latest and most deadly adventure yet…

* * *

The two companions started trekking through the long, dark, and narrow cave like passage way. The only light that illuminated the path came from some torches that lined the walls about every one hundred feet.

"Sonic," began Tails, "how do you think Robotnik managed to capture Knuckles all by himself?"

"That's just it," came Sonics' reply, "I don't think he did,".

"Well who do you think helped him?", asked Tails, afraid of what the hedgehogs' answer might be.

Sonic let out a tired sigh, "the only THING that could have destroyed that basement like that other than Knuckles when he drinks Russian vodka,".

"You don't think it was…,".

"Yeah, I do…Metal Sonic," the blue one finished his partners sentence for him.

The two had walked a considerable distance before they came to a very steep, winding, downwards slope. Sonic failed to see it until the last second and fell down into the opening. As he fell he noted that it was more or less like a waterslide without water. When he finally reached the end of it he fell an additional twenty feet from the ceiling of the chamber to the floor which was padded by two mattresses. Tails followed him soon after and they surveyed the damage to the Emerald Chamber. The security system that Knuckles had installed was completely shorted out which was most likely, in Sonics' mind, the work of Metal. It was also apparent that he had also taken the time to destroy a few of the statues in the room which were, essentially, marble portraits of Knux's ancestors and former Guardians of the Master Emerald.

At the sight of this latest atrocity, Sonic became infuriated. He just wanted to strangle the evil doctor/dictator. Tails, who happened to notice that his friend had started shaking with rage, made an attempt to calm him down:

"S-Sonic," he began with a stutter.

"What!" the blue one spat back.

"C'mon, this isn't too bad. I mean, at least Knuckles is still alive,".

"Yeah for now!"

Sonic just seemed to be getting angrier. It seemed as though there was nothing that could calm him down.

"We have no way of knowing where Knux is. We don't have a clue as to where the Master Emerald is. And on top of all of that we only have roughly twenty-three hours left to find him,". Sonic seemed to be losing it. His anger was turning into a controlled sob. "One of my best friends is going to die in less than twenty-four hours and we have no clue as to where he is," he sobbed, a tear running from his eye.

Tails just turned away. He looked once more at the broken statues and the pedestal which once held the precious emerald that the echidna protected, now completely bare.

He could see why Sonic was so upset.

Knuckles had once been an enemy of theirs. He had been tricked by Robotnik into thinking that Sonic and Tails were trying to steal the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald. Once it was clear to him though that Robotnik was the one who was evil, and who had caused the former guardian, Knuckles' father, to perish; he had vowed revenge upon the doctor.

Now, knowing that all of their efforts had been in vain and that Knuckles was going to suffer the same fate as his dad had, Tails too began to feel the effects of this sadistic plot. However, unlike his blue friend, Tails began to attempt to come up with a lead for them to follow.

"How are we going to break this to Rouge?" Sonic asked himself.

"Sonic!" exclaimed Tails with a sound of hope in his voice, "That's it!"

"What is?" inquired Sonic.

"Rouge!" Tails cried, "She can track down Knuckles. Then once we find him we can locate the Emerald,".

"That's right," began Sonic, his voice suddenly becoming a little hopeful, "She always manages to find him no matter where he is,".

"Right. So what are we waiting for? Lets go!" said Tails who could hardly control himself.

Tails flew the two out of the chamber as quickly as he could, and they rushed back to the bathroom, up the stairs, and out the front door to the jeep.

* * *

I'm sorry that this is a really short chapter. I would've liked it to be longer, but my first chapter was longer than I intended and therefore cut into this one. The next chapter is where the plot will pick up a little.

I thought it would be nice to have Sonic show some emotion in this chapter. I don't know how this goes over with all of you, the readers, so that's what I want to know your thoughts on:

Do you think that having a well known character, like Sonic, show emotion like that when they would normally keep their cool is ok?

Well that's all for now my faithful readers,

Sons of Ocelot


	3. Rouge

**Authors Note: Sonic and all other characters I'm gonna use are not owned by me.**

Hey everybody, sorry I didn't get this up a little sooner. I was debating over a few different ideas for where to go with this chapter, but I'm fairly happy with my choice.

Well before I start, I want to give thanks out to WolvenWindNinja and Wirewolf for their reviews as well as adding this to their favs and alerts respectively. Also I want to thank anyone who has taken the time to read this at all. Thanks a million everyone.

Ok, time for a short recap: Knuckles has been kidnapped, the Master Emerald has been stolen, the Emerald Chamber has been damaged, and Sonic and Tails have decided to go find Rouge in order to help them locate Knuckles.

See, I told you it was short. Onwards with chapter 3...

* * *

Sonic fumbled around in his pockets for the keys to the jeep. Once he found them, he and Tails quickly buckled themselves in and sped out of Knuckles driveway onto the busy suburban street, and in doing so caused an old man to crash his car into one of the many bushes lining the driveway.

Not bothering to look back, Sonic quickly turned his attention to the situation at hand:

"Tails, which way does Rouge live?" he asked.

"I believe she lives on the other side of town, about a half mile from the beer distributor that's run by the Chaotix,". he answered.

"You mean the HydroCity Zone distributor, right?"

"Yeah that's it," came the fox's reply.

"Well lets move then,".

Sonic dropped the accelerator to the floor, and was amazed by the speed the vehicle was able to obtain. As a matter of fact, the jeep was just as fast as Sonic when pushed to it's limits.

\\\ Five Minutes Later ///

Sonic still had the pedal to the floor as they approached Rouges' home. In comparison to Knuckles' pad, her house was small. She lived in a tiny two story home in the middle of a small neighborhood. She had a small front lawn with a birdbath in the center and a one car garage off to the side.

The blue blur tore into the driveway and rushed to the front door. He proceeded then to knock, rather hard, on it until the bat answered:

"Sonic?…Tails?" she said their names with immense confusion, "what are you guys doing here?"

"It's Knuckles," Sonic began, "he's been kidnapped by Robotnik and he stole the Master Emerald,".

Rouge let out a terrified gasp at the news. "No," she whispered.

"Yeah but that's not even the worst part," Sonic started again, "if we don't find him in twenty-four hours…well…," he stopped and just the look on the bat's face told him she knew what would happen. "Look, Rouge, we need your help. We need to find out where Knuckles and the Master Emerald have been taken. Can you get a location on where Knux is?"

"W-well," she stuttered, still in shock from the news that her boyfriend was in trouble, "I-I think I c-can get you a rough location,".

"That would be a great start," Tails said with hope in his voice.

Rouge led the two into her home and into her living room. Sonic and Tails glanced around and noticed many machines and computers. It reminded Sonic of Tails' computer room. The bat led them over to the largest machine in the room and pulled the deskchair out from under the stand and sat down:

"_Please enter access code," _the computers' electronic voice said.

Rouge typed in her code which neither Sonic nor Tails paid attention to out of respect for her privacy. Once the computer registered that the code input was correct, a large black screen came up with a few different choices in green type. The bat moved to the third choice, "Locator", and entered into the program. The next screen that popped up asked for _"Name?"_ , and she typed "Knuckles the Echidna" into the textbox and clicked search.

A big list of items popped up, a list of people that Rouge tracked according to her, and it automatically scrolled to Knux's profile. His profile listed all of his known information: height, weight, age, and species among other things. Rouge did some more clicking and typing until the computer displayed a spinning 3D wire-frame globe of the world: _"Attempting to locate"_.

After a while the wire-frame stopped it's spinning and zoomed in. _"Still searching," _chimed the computer. After a few moments a small blip appeared on the screen; _"Target located. Displaying target "Knuckles" current GPS location,"_.

"Thirty-seven point five degrees north by sixty-four point two degrees west?", said Rouge questioningly.

"What does that mean?" asked Sonic

"I'm not sure this thing is working correctly," said the bat, sounding worried, "give me a minute,".

She exited the program she was currently in, after making a note of the coordinates, and once they were back to the main menu she clicked the second choice, "Geographical/Political Map". _"Please input coordinates," _stated the electronic voice. Rouge quickly double checked the numbers she had gotten out of the locator program and entered them into the coordinates boxes. The little globe that was now on the screen was the same wire-frame one they had seen before, but now it showed the borders of the worlds nations. The globe spun around and zoomed in on the location. "Oh…my…God," whispered Rouge.

Sonic, who was looking over her shoulder, couldn't believe it either. The map indicated that Knuckles was located near Knothole, the place where Sonic had spent his childhood, just a few miles away…in Robotropolis.

* * *

Well another short chapter, sorry about that. But a nice cliffhanger in my opinion.

In case you all were wondering, all of the characters in my fics wear clothes. It makes some things easier such as storing car keys ect. (where do most video game characters put all of those large items at anyway).

Well until next time,

Happy reading and writing,

Sons of Ocelot


	4. The Adventure Begins

**Authors Note: Sonic and all other characters I'm gonna use are not owned by me.**

Hello everyone! Yes I know what you're thinking: _"Damn, it's about time he did something with this story!" _and I must say that I agree with you whole heartedly. I have no reason nor excuse as to why it took me so long to update this, it just did. Hopefully there won't be anymore of these long waits with this fic, and I hope you all can forgive me for this past one. Anyhow, here is a quick review of what has happened and then we will jump right back into the action:

Sonic and Tails had gone to visit Knuckles at his home. Upon their arrival though, they found a strange note from the Echidna. Apparently something had gone down elsewhere and he could not meet up with them so he told them to meet him at his house. When the duo reached Knuxs' home they found that the basement had been destroyed and that Robotnik was behind the attack. Apparently the evil doctor had kidnapped Knuckles and stolen the Master Emerald. Also if they did not recover the emerald in seventy-two hours then the Floating Island would crash into the rest of the Earth and kill half of the population, but if Knux is not rescued in twenty-four then he will die. With time against them the two friends attempt to come up with a lead to follow. Tails suggests going to see Rouge and see if she can roughly identify the Echidnas' current location. Rouge was successful in getting a GPS signal on him, but the place that was noted as his location was one that Sonic and Tails had hoped they would never have to return to…Robotropolis.

* * *

"Robotropolis," gasped Tails, "Sonic, I thought that Robotnik had abandoned that place years ago,".

"Hm, well look at this," began Rouge, "it says here that when Robotnik left the city he was succeeded by a man named Snively Kintobor,".

"Huh," snorted Sonic, "how does that figure. He left his nephew in charge while he chased after Tails and I,".

"Well, I hate to say it, but there's more," stated Rouge. "Apparently there has been a major power struggle going on since he left between Snivelys' armies and a group known as the "Freedom Fighters of Knothole",".

She continued, "It says, and I quote: "The armies of Robotropolis under the command of Sergeant Snively Kintobor have been at war with the Freedom Fighters of Knothole for the past twelve years. The Freedom Fighters, under the command of Princess Sally Acorn, had at one time revolted against the SWATbot army of Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and eventually unseated him as the regions' dictator. However, shortly after the departure of two key members of the resistance group, Robotniks' nephew Snively took control of the army and launched an all out offensive against anyone who opposes him. To date Snively has captured every resistance member with the exception of Sally Acorn and Antoine D'Coolette,".

Sonic sighed as Rouge finished, "well, we don't have a choice. We have to go back to Knothole Tails,".

"Lets get going then Sonic," said Tails as he headed for the door.

"Wait!" Rouge shouted, "I'm going with you,".

"Rouge look," began Sonic, "I want you to stay here. We can't afford to have anything happen to you,".

"I said I'm going and that's final," stated the bat, her voice as cold as ice. "Knuckles is out there somewhere in that hellhole and I plan on doing everything I can to save him,".

Sonic stared at her for a moment. Her face was full of various emotions. Anger, worry, and determination could be seen on her all at once. He knew that if he didn't take her with them that she would attempt to save Knux herself and quite possibly get herself killed in the process. He had no other options. They had to take her.

"Alright then," was all Sonic had to say to her. "Let's move!"

The trio of Sonic, Tails, and Rouge moved quickly out of the bats' home out to the red jeep. Sonic fired up the engine and shoved the vehicle into reverse. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he floored the accelerator and ripped out onto the street before peeling out to head back to Knuckles hangar.

\\\Meanwhile///

"So uncle, I see you have returned,".

"Yes nephew, I have come here to seek your assistance,".

"Hm, what do you require of me? Do you wish for me to bow before you and polish your boots?! After all the abuse I endured from you in the past, do you seriously expect me to help you out?!"

"Please Snively, forgive my wrongdoings. I have set in motion a plan which will not only allow myself to capture that damned hedgehog and his pesky fox friend but would lure the remaining Freedom Fighters out into the open for you,".

"Hm, that is Sergeant Kintobor to _YOU_!" barked Snively. "And just what is this wonderful plan of yours _Doctor_?"

"I have captured the guardian of the Master Emerald, Knuckles the Echidna, and stolen the Master Emerald itself,".

"I see…go on,".

"I have brought them both here with the hope that you would allow me to hold them here. The only way Sonic and his friends can possibly get in is to launch an offensive with the resistance, but with their dwindling numbers your armies of SWATbots could easily take them all captive thus giving you complete control of the region,".

"Hm, I see…well, I suppose that I could allow you to keep the echidna here so long as we can be assured that he will not escape,".

"I can already assure you that he will not,".

"How?"

"Two words Sergeant Kintobor…Metal Knuckles!"

\\\Back At Knuckles Hangar///

Sonic and Tails pushed their red biplane out into the sunlight. Tails climbed into the cockpit and started up the engine while Rouge took her seat behind him as the copilot. Sonic, who realized that there were no seats left, decided to take his trademark spot on the top of the wings. After quickly double checking his flight plan Tails ran the plane down the runway and took off into the sky.

Next stop, Knothole Village…

**

* * *

**

Again to all of my readers, I'm sorry I took sooooo long to update this. I hope you like it and expect to see more frequent updates to this story now that I know for sure where I want to go. Also next chapter will be a bit longer. Happy reading and writing,

Sons of Ocelot


	5. Welcome to Knothole

**Authors Notes: No Sonic characters belong to me. I am just a lowly wal-mart cashier who is trying to entertain you, the reader.**

Thanks goes out to GIGA-XISBASS for their review and thanks to anyone and everyone who has taken the time to check out the story. Much love to all of you.

No recap this chapter. Nope, we're going right to the action.

* * *

\\\Inside the holding cells of Robotropolis///

"Oof," grunted Knuckles as he was tossed into his personal cell by a SWATbot.

The echidna looked about his surroundings. He was locked up in a room about six feet wide by four feet long and with a ceiling about ten feet up. The entire room was constructed of stone held together by a flaking mortar. There was a chair positioned in one corner of the room, however that was the only piece of furniture. The door, which he had been unceremoniously tossed through was made of reinforced, one foot thick steel. On the outside of the door he heard the unmistakable clicks of two padlocks being placed on the door to prevent his escape. The only opening in the entire room was a tiny slot at the bottom of the door through which he would be, presumably, be given food.

"_Damn it," _he thought to himself, _"how did I fall for something that simple? Sonic and Tails are no doubt going to attempt a rescue, and they don't have a clue what they're in for,"_.

\\\Meanwhile///

"Sonic, Rouge," called Tails, "we're getting close to the Forest,".

"Good," replied the bat, "according to this map there should be a clearing coming into view just off to our left. It's wide enough that we could land there,".

"I see it," stated Sonic, "You should probably start bringing the plane down a bit Tails,".

"Roger that," answered the fox as he did as he was advised.

Tails brought the plane to the ground and landed it with a soft bump on the grass.

"Alright you two," began Sonic, "we only have roughly fifteen hours to get to Knux. First though, we have to get to Knothole. I'll lead,".

The trio set off into the woods towards Knothole Village. As they walked they remained silent and stopped only to take a quick drink from a nearby stream. Upon reaching the site of the Freedom Fighters base Sonic paused momentarily to make sure no one was watching before pulling on a vine that was suspended above his head. About a foot away an old tree stump opened up revealing a secret passage. Sonic motioned for the others to follow and jumped down into the entrance way.

At the bottom of the winding passage the group was met by the sound of alarms and flashing red lights. From their right came a small group of guards dressed in blue military jackets. The group held the trio at gun point as their leader approached. Sonic noted as he neared that he was a young gray wolf, whose jacket was decorated with about fifteen or so medals.

"So vat do ve 'ave ear?" he asked in a heavy French accent, "a couple of thieves, yes?"

Before any of them could answer him the wolf's radio interrupted.

"Raphael, 'ave you found zem?" asked the voice on the other end.

Sonic immediately recognized the voice as that of Antoine D'Coolette, a friend of his from childhood and one of the original members of the Freedom Fighters.

"Yes zir," replied Raphael.

"Ah, zat is good. Please, bring zem to my office. I shall meet you zer,".

"Yes zir,".

He now addressed two of his other troops both of whom were also wolves.

"Leonardo! Michelangelo!"

"Yes-a sir," they replied in unison with slightly stereotypical Italian accents.

"Iv you two vould please escort zese three to ze commanders office, ve vill meet you back out on ze training field,".

"Yes-a sir," they answered again. "Come on, let's-a move it along," they ordered the trio.

\\\A Few Moments Later///

Sonic, Tails, and Rouge all stood inside a large room along with the two wolves, Leonardo and Michelangelo. The room was moderately decorated with a bookshelf making up the eastern wall, a small cot was placed in the south-western wall, and a medium sized work desk was sitting in the north-eastern corner. The desk was littered with office supplies such as pens, pencils, paper, a pencil sharpener, stapler, and a few small filing trays, but also held a few more personal items including a picture of Antoine and Sally.

Sonic made a move to go over to the desk but Leonardo grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground.

"I wouldn't-a go messin' around if I were-a you," he warned, "the commander will-a be here-a shortly,".

Then, as if on cue, the door to the room swung open. Antoine D'Coolette had his face buried in a filing folder and did not glance up from it as he entered, instead just moving to his desk and sitting down.

"Vell," he began in an exhausted tone, "vat do ve got 'ere?"

He still had not looked up from his file as Michelangelo began to explain the situation to him.

"Well-a sir, we-a caught these thieves breaking-a into the base,".

Antoine looked up from his file now for the first time since entering the room with a tired sigh. As his eyes locked up with Sonics' he produced a face of utter bewilderment.

"_No, zis cannot be 'im. Can it?" _he wondered.

"What's up 'Toine?" asked the blue blur.

"S-S-Sonic ze 'Edge'og?!"

"Yep, that's me,".

"Vat are you doing 'ere?"

"Look 'Toine, I don't want to have to explain this more than once. So why don't you take us to Sally and I'll explain to both of you at the same time,".

"Very well. Leonardo! Michelangelo! You both are excused. You may report back to Raphael, and I will handle things from 'ere," finished Antoine.

The two Italian wolves saluted and ran back to their squad.

"Vell, I must zay, ve did not expect to zee you around 'ere again Sonic,".

"Yeah, yeah, cut the chatter and take us to Sally 'Toine,".

"Jeez you're still a smartass aren't you? Very vell zen. Please follow me," and with that Antoine led the three out of his office and down to the main control room of the base to meet with Princess Sally Acorn.

\\\Back in Robotropolis///

"Sergeant Snively," began a SWATbot, "the prisoner is in the holding cell as you commanded,".

Snively Kintobor sat in a chair in the center of a large command center. In front of him was a table with a map of the local region splayed on it.

"Good, now send in the Doctor," he ordered.

Snively watched as the SWATbot gave him a quick salute before walking out the door.

"_Hm, this little plan seems too good to be true. Is it possible that he is actually going to help me? It's not like my uncle to work with someone else without stabbing them in the back once he has gotten what he wants,"_ he thought to himself, _"I should probably be very cautious of him,"_.

Just then Snively heard the chamber doors creak open. Doctor Ivo Robotnik walked up to the table at which his nephew sat. After a moment Snively spoke up:

"Well uncle, the echidna is locked up in the holding cells. Now, you said that you also have the Master Emerald in your possession, yes?"

"Yes, that is correct," replied Robotnik

"And what do you feel we should do with it?"

"Well, I thought we would leave it here," Robotnik answered plainly.

"Hm, well I've given that some thought, and have come to the conclusion that we should not do that," stated Kintobor.

"Then, what shall we do with it _Sergeant?_" asked the evil doctor in a very sarcastic tone.

"Simple," began Snively, an evil grin wiping across his face, "we shall send it into "The Void"…,".

* * *

Hey everyone, thanks for reading. Did you all catch the TMNT references earlier in the chapter. Also, for those of you who never got to watch SatAM (the American Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning cartoon), or got to read the early Archie Comics based on SatAM, "The Void" is a dimension where things exist in empty space. There is no sense of time there either so nothing really ages at all. It is basically a realm of nothingness, and the only way to get there is via a special machine Robotnik invented.

Next chapter I'll introduce Sally into the story and things should really start to pick up.

Until then I hope you all enjoy reading and writing your fan fictions.  
Sons of Ocelot


	6. Meeting and Betrayal

**Authors Notes: No Sonic characters belong to me. I am just a lowly wal-mart cashier who is trying to entertain you, the reader.**

Thanks to all who've shown an interest in this project. It means a lot to me. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. I think you will be surprised…

* * *

\\\Deep Inside Knothole Village///

Princess Sally Acorn sat at a large rectangular table. She had been informed by Raphael, a member of the newly reformed Wolf Pack that was under the command of Antoine D'Coolette, that three intruders had breached the security system of the base, but had been captured before anything else could happen. He then informed her that D'Coolette had requested that she meet with them because they were actually friends of the village from long ago.

She had reluctantly agreed to meet them in the room which she currently occupied. It had been nearly ten minutes and she was getting ready to leave when the door opened in front of her. It was Antoine who walked through the door and addressed her with a bow:

"My Prinzess," he began, "I have brought the three intruders, however I believe you vill be pleasantly surprised,".

She stood up slowly as Sonic, Tails, and Rouge all entered the room. She stared at them all before finally speaking:

"S-Sonic," she gasped in disbelief, "T-Tails, is it really you?"

"The one and only Sal," answered the blue blur.

An instant later Sonic found himself being glomped by Sally.

After he regained his breath he slowly began to explain everything that was going on. He told her how Robotnik had stolen the Master Emerald and kidnapped Knuckles, as well as how they knew that he had fled back to Robotropolis to possibly seek the assistance of his nephew, Snively Kintobor.

\\\A Few Minutes Later///

"And that's why we came here Sally," Sonic finished.

"So it zeems zat ze vat bastard has not only has found a vay to lure you out of hiding, but is also using the possibility of us helping you as a way to get Kintobor to assist him," concluded Antoine.

"He's right Sonic," began Sally, "if we attempt a full frontal assault there is no way we will be able to resist the SWATbots for long,".

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" the hedgehog asked with frustration visible on his face.

"We can get you all the Intel on Robotropolis that we can: maps, building layouts, and some of the patrol routes that run along the perimeter of the city,".

Sonic just heaved a heavy sigh. They were running out of time and that was not exactly the kind of help he had come in search of.

She handed Sonic a small object that looked like a PDA.

"That is a smaller version of Nicole," she said. Nicole, as Sonic remembered was a small computer that was about the size of a Gameboy Color. "We can send you the Intel through that," she continued, "and it doubles as a walkie-talkie if you press that small button on the side.

"C'mon Sonic we've got to go," said Tails.

"I'll stay here and help Sally and Antoine," stated Rouge, "I brought my laptop so I can monitor you guys movements,".

"Alright then," said Sonic, "wish us luck,".

With that Sonic and Tails set off for Robotropolis.

\\\Meanwhile in Robotropolis///

"Sergeant Kintobor, the portal is ready," stated a SWATbot.

"Excellent, now Doctor, all we have to do is insert the Emerald into the Void,".

"As you wish, _Sergeant_," stated Robotnik mockingly. "Oh and Snively…have a nice trip," he added with a dark look in his eyes.

Snively regarded Robotnik as though he were crazy, "and just what does _that_ mean?"

"This," answered the evil Doctor as he produced a small remote from his pocket and pressed a red button.

The eyes of the SWATbots changed from yellow in color to red. They quickly turned and began moving in on Snively. The Sergeant looked around frantically, feebly attempting to command the bots to release him as they restrained his arms and legs with chains.

"Dear nephew," Robotnik began explaining, "did you really think I was going to cooperate with you? While yes it is true that you kept surveillance on me the entire time I've been here, you failed to remember that I came here with two loyal robots of my own,".

"Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles," sighed Snively as he realized the error he had made.

"Exactly," gloated the evil genius, "so that made it exceedingly easy to instruct them to reprogram all of the SWATbots to obey me. Now take him to join the other one," he instructed.

Two SWATbots moved over, knocked him out, and carried the defeated Snively down to the dungeons. They took him down to the deepest and darkest part of them before stopping outside of one of the rooms, unchaining him, and tossing their former commander haphazardly into the room.

When he regained consciousness, Snively sat up on the floor and looked at his new confines. He noticed a single chair in a corner of the room and took note of a tiny slot just big enough to fit a small plate of food in at the bottom of the door.

As he sat there taking all of this in he got the strange feeling that he was not alone in the room. A moment later he confirmed that feeling when he noticed a dark figure standing in the far corner with it's arms crossed:

"Well, well, look who finally woke up,"

* * *

A/N: I know it's a short chapter, but it does it's job. The action will really pick up in either the next chapter or the one after. Again thanks to everyone who has shown interest and I'm sorry for being slow to update this.

Much thanks for reading. Comments and criticisms are always welcome as are suggestions and questions. Also, be sure to vote in my new poll: "Who is your favorite Sonic character?" because the characters that have the most votes will be exempt from being ripped on in my next comedic Sonic fic.

Sons of Ocelot


	7. Battle Ready

**A/N: I don't own Sonic nor will I ever own him or any other sonic characters. **

Well first of all I want to thank everyone who has read this up to this point. A special thanks goes out to WolvenWindNinja, GreenLeafPrince, Wirewolf, GIGA-XISBASS, craZ4knux, crazycat12, and Sonic Rainbow Unleashed for their reviews, adds to their fav lists, and/or adds to their alerts lists. I'm not entirely sure how many more chapters there will be but it's safe to assume there will be at least 10 in total. Now it's time for a small recap: Sonic and Tails have set off for Robotropolis, and Snively, the ruler of Robotropolis, had been betrayed by his uncle Robotnik who ordered Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles to reprogram the SWATbots to obey him.

On with the story then…

* * *

\\\In the Depths of the Robotropolis Dungeons///

"Well, well…look who finally woke up,".

The voice came from a dark figure standing in the corner of Snivelys' holding cell. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed as he addressed the defeated Sergeant.

"I wondered how long it would take before that fat ass betrayed you, or when you would realize your error," it finished.

Snively stood up to confront the voice that spoke to him.

"Well I…," he began but was cut off again by the figure.

"Well you what?," questioned Knuckles emerging from the shadows, "Listen, if I were you I would not be trying to make a stand against someone that you just decided to throw in prison on a whim. Your lucky I didn't kill you while you were still unconscious,".

"But…you didn't," stuttered Snively.

"Exactly and do you know why?"

The Sergeant just shook his head.

"Because if I kill you, then there would be no one around that could give me the information I need," finished the Echidna.

Snivelys' facial expression turned to one of fear as Knuckles slowly approached him.

"What do you plan on doing to me?" he questioned fearfully.

"Nothing as long as you give me the truth," responded Knux, "now here is your first question. What happened to the Master Emerald?"

"Robotnik asked that it be placed into the void," Kintobor answered truthfully.

"And did you give him the access he needed to put it there?"

Snively sheepishly nodded his head. This action was responded to by Knuckles delivering a hard right punch into Snivelys' stomach thus dropping him to his knees.

"Alright then, I just have a few more questions for you,".

\\\On the Outskirts of Robotropolis///

"Sonic," began Tails, "we should be getting close to the city by now right?"

"Hold on let me check this map," replied the blue blur, "yeah we're right on the outskirts,".

Sonic pressed a small button on the side of the PDA.

"Hey Sal, how do those patrol routes look?"

"Well, it's odd, there don't seem to be any bots patrolling the city at all. It looks like they're all inside a building towards the northwest of your current location,".

"A meeting perhaps?" suggested Tails.

"Could be," answered Sonic, "Rouge, can you patch us a GPS location on Knuckles?"

"I believe I can," stated the bat, "just give me a second,".

A moment later a small blip appeared on Sonics' PDA with a small arrow pointing to it indicating that it was Knuckles.

"Awesome," commented Sonic, "Ok were headed over there now,".

"Gotcha Sonic, be careful,".

"Will do Sal. C'mon Tails," started Sonic as he went to turn a nearby corner.

"_I'm afraid I can't let you go any further,"_ stated an electronic voice ahead of them.

"What? Who said that? Show yourself?" demanded Sonic

A quick red flash ran past the two friends knocking them down before stopping not five feet in front of them.

"K-knuckles?" asked Tails who was still woozy from being knocked over.

"Not a chance Tails," responded Sonic, "looks like another one of Robuttniks crazy robots,".

* * *

DUN DUN DUNNNNNN…Well an extremely short chapter but it works for me and the next chapter probably won't be ready till Tuesday or Wednesday night so until then I hope you all enjoy this.

Sons of Ocelot


	8. Rescuing Knux Pt 1

**Authors Note: By now this should be second nature, but again I do not own Sonic, Tails, or any Sonic characters nor will I ever.**

Ok well first of all I have some more explaining to do. You're probably asking yourselves why it took me so long to update this again when it SHOULD have been updated about three months ago. Really I don't have a reason other than I didn't feel inspired to do so and I can't write fight scenes for crap. Anyways, I have finally gotten around to writing this chapter and if it sucks I'm sorry ahead of time because this chapter contains my first fight scene ever.

On a side note, I wish to thank all who have read this including WolvenWindNinja, GreenLeaf Prince, Wirewolf, GIGA-XISBASS, craZ4knux, crazycat12, Sonic Rainbow Unleashed, and DellaNote. I would also like to give out an extra special thanks to DellaNote for their input on fight scenes, my awesome brother Tylor for reading through all of my material before it's posted and being very unbiased about it, and my friend Brittany for inspiring me to begin writing fan fiction in the first place.

Another note: if there are _"quoted italics"_ then that is a robot talking. If there are no quotes then it is a characters thoughts.

On with the story:

* * *

"K-knuckles?" asked Tails who was still woozy from being knocked over.

"Not a chance Tails," answered Sonic, "looks like another one of Robuttniks crazy robots,".

"_I am Metal Knuckles," _responded the Echidna-like cyborg, _"I've been sent to prevent you from interfering with Lord Robotnik's plan,"._

"Hm," grunted the blue blur, "we'll see about that!"

Sonic began rushing at his adversary before curling into a sonic spin. However, Metal Knuckles dodged the attack, and charged Sonic before delivering a crushing right hand punch that knocked the hedgehog to the ground.

"Sonic!" exclaimed Tails who ran over to help his friend up, "Sonic, are you ok?"

"I'm fine little guy," he muttered before charging the robot again. This time the fake Knux dodged and knocked Sonic down with a sweep kick before attempting to pound his face into the ground with his fist, but the blue blur rolled out of the way just in time.

_Damn, _Sonic thought, _he seems to be quicker than I am. I'm gonna have to outsmart him to win this one._

"_C'mon is that all you can do," _mocked the robotic Knuckles.

"Ha," laughed Sonic, "I'm just getting warmed up metal head,"

This time Sonic charged the robot, but when he got to him he executed a backwards sonic spin.

Metal Knuckles threw a left uppercut but missed.

Sonic saw his opening and took full advantage of it. He ran up grabbed the robots' arm and began spinning in place until he reached a high velocity speed.

"How's this for ya!" exclaimed Sonic as he released the bot and sent it flying into a nearby building with a loud "CRUNCH".

When the dust settled, Sonic and Tails cautiously approached the Echidna-like robot. It smelt of burnt oil and the sparks emitting from the back of its' head area confirmed the duos suspicion that the "crunching" sound had been that of the bots outer metal case breaking. It's eyes were dark and there was no sign that it was functional anymore.

"Sonic," began Tails with a low voice, "I've got a real bad feeling about this,".

"Yeah I don't like where this is going either," agreed the blue blur, "So I want you to go back to Knothole and help out Sally and the others,".

"But Son-," Tails began protesting but he was cut off.

"Tails there is no way I'm letting you go any further with me," began Sonic in a serious tone, "I'm calling for someone to come and get you now and that is final,".

"But," Tails started again.

"I said NO Tails. That's it, end of story. Look this place is way more dangerous now than it was twelve years ago when we left. Back then all we had to put up with were brainless SWATbots and at that we had the power rings. Now we don't have those rings and Snively and Robotnik are using much more advanced robots. We can't afford to be caught right now and if we are we're gonna die," Sonic finished.

He now addressed his radio, "Hey Sally,".

"Yes Sonic, what's up?"

"Tails and I just ran into a new robot out here. We're alright but I need someone to come on out and get Tails. It's way too dangerous out here and we can't afford to have him get caught in case I get stuck fighting off another one".

"Hm, I see. Well we can't send someone into the city but Raphael and his squad can meet you guys on the outskirts in ten minutes,".

"Ok Sal, we're gonna move back out to the perimeter of the city and we'll meet them there in ten,".

"Alright Sonic, be careful,".

"I hear ya, I hear ya," he said, "c'mon Tails we need to get back to the outskirts,".

\\\Meanwhile in the Dungeons of Robotropolis///

"And you actually believed him!?" inquired Knuckles with anger in his voice, "You actually thought that he was going to help you of all people!?"

Snively Kintobor lay on the floor of the dungeon with his hands covering his head.

"Yes," he squeaked with fear.

Knuckles the Echidna had been interrogating the poor man for well over an hour now. Asking him questions concerning everything from why he was captured to the current issue of why in the hell someone who was abused by their uncle as a child would years down the road decide to help him. Every time the Guardian heard something he didn't like he would either scream at the former Sergeant or slam a fist into his jaw. By now there was a steady trickle of blood leaking from the corner of Snivelys' mouth and he was shaking terribly with a fearful expression etched upon his face. But to his credit Knuckles had kept his promise of not killing him.

"Well," began Knux, "I guess that is all I needed to know,".

Snively slowly started to sit up and looked at the Echidna.

Knuckles regarded him for a moment before turning around and moving over to the chair in the corner to sit. He kind of felt sorry for the poor guy. He had been abused by Robotnik for the better part of the first fourteen years of his life and now, when he finally begins to succeed at something, that fat ass comes around and ruins it. But the Echidna also felt that he deserved what he got. Snively knew what it was like to be bullied around and yet that was precisely what he did to the freedom fighters as soon as Robotnik left…he just finished the work his uncle couldn't, and had been even more ruthless than him as well.

Suddenly there were footsteps outside of the door:

"_Here is your meal," _came the hollow computerized voice of a SWATbot as he pushed a small plate of bread through the slot at the bottom of the door along with a small canteen of water.

Snively bolted for the food and drink, but before he could get any of it into his mouth Knuckles had knocked it to the floor. Before the man could protest the Echidna added, "Knowing the Doctor, it's probably been poisoned. Consider that payment for the info you just gave me,".

Snively nodded his head in silent agreement, relieved that the guardian had at least shown a little mercy. So the man sat on the floor, lay back against the wall, and fell asleep. Knuckles looked at his watch…he was coming up on his seventeenth straight hour of confinement. With that thought he decided it was best to follow his cellmates' example and fell into a very uneasy sleep plagued by nightmares of his ancestors; a vision of the Floating Island burning with Sonic, Tails, and Rouge trapped and unable to escape the flames, and the person who had started the blaze was Doctor Robotnik himself. But the final sequence he saw scared him the most, so bad in fact that he woke up in an ice cold sweat with his heart beating at an extremely high rate: he saw Robotnik ruthlessly beating Snively to a bloody pulp, and then sending him off to be executed all while laughing like a madman.

\\\Meanwhile in the Throne Room of Robotropolis///

"_Lord Robotnik we have just received a transmission from him," _stated a SWATbot.

"Excellent," began Robotnik with a twisted smile, "patch him through to the main monitor,".

"As you command,".

The fat dictator swiveled in his chair to face the oversized screen on the northern wall. It flickered for a moment and then displayed a clear picture of a blue robot:

"Status report Metal Sonic," stated the evil scientist.

"_Master, the new prototype was unable to capture the hedgehog. As a matter of fact the outer shell has been severely damaged right above the core processor,"._

"Damn him," growled Robotnik.

"_However none of the main circuitry was damaged. Actually I believe it can be easily repaired in approximately one hour. The recording device we placed on the prototype was still functional as well. It seems that the blue one will be coming back alone. They are backtracking to a rendezvous point now just outside the city limits, so the repairs can be made before he arrives at the base,"._

_So he plans on coming by himself does he, _thought Robotnik.

"Very well then. I expect you to be back here with the Metal Knuckles prototype in less than five minutes. Now get moving,".

Robotnik turned now to face his first command SWATbot.

"Send a message to the repair shop to focus all of their work on fixing the damaged outer case of the Metal Knuckles prototype when it gets there. I want it finished within thirty minutes of its' arrival," he barked.

"_But sir, it will take at least an hour to fix if it is as bad as he said," _remarked the bot.

At that statement the Doctor produced a ray gun from his cape pocket and blasted the SWATbot in the chest and turned to his second in command.

"Take _him_ down to the repair shop and have him torn apart and use the scrap to fix the prototype. Also tell them to finish the work in thirty minutes of it getting here or they _all_ will be junked," he added while seething with rage.

The SWATbot did as he was ordered.

* * *

What will become of Knuckles? Will Sonic be able to rescue him in time? What about Snively? What will happen when Sonic comes face to face with his metallic self? And what is with Knuckles' dream sequences? Only time will tell…

Author Note: Well again thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read. I know I took forever to get this chapter done but it is done and now we can move on with the story again. YAY

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed this chapter and I hope to update again fairly soon.

Happy reading and writing,

Sons of Ocelot


	9. Rescuing Knux Pt 2

AN: Hello everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that this story will be coming to an end soon. All will be revealed in the chapters to come so be sure to keep an eye out for updates.

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog stood at the city limits of Robotropolis. He had just sent Tails back to Knothole with Raphael and his Wolf Pack, so they could give support to him from there via radio. The Blue Blur looked out at the city skyline remembering his childhood. There had been many times when he and the other Freedom Fighters had traveled to this place to foil Dr. Robotniks' evil plans; but now as he observed the old decrepit buildings of the once great former Mobotropolis, he was indeed filled with mixed emotions.

One side of him was extremely excited to be able to tear through the streets at warp speed again, all the while outsmarting Robuttnik. But on the other side was a feeling that he was not very familiar with…fear. It wasn't that he was fearful of what might happen to himself while he was there, but the thought of what might happen if he were to fail on this mission. What would happen to the world and his friends is what scared him the most.

"Huh," Sonic snorted to himself, "I need to stop worrying about that kinda stuff. What's the worst old blubber bolts is gonna do?" He pushed his fears aside and checked in with the Knothole support team. "Hey Rouge," he began.

"Yes," came her reply. She sounded tired.

"Hey can you get me a location on Knux and patch it through onto these maps Sally has uploaded to me?"

"Yeah that won't be a problem. Just a moment,". A second later and a small blip appeared on Sonics' PDA, "There, that small dot will show you his position. Also I'm getting a reading that says the source is coming from under the ground,".

"They must've thrown him into the dungeons then," concluded the hedgehog, "ok then, can you also give me the location of Robotnik?"

"Let me see," replied the bat, "alright…there,". As had happened with Knuckles another dot appeared on Sonics' PDA, this one though was noticeably larger. "My tracker says that Robotnik is in the same building as Knux,".

"Sonic," Sally interjected, "the master control room for the city is located in that building on the third floor. I think it's safe to assume that that's where the Doctor is,".

"Yeah you're probably right Sal. I mean the guy doesn't seem to get much exercise. I'm gonna head out now," and with that the blue blur sped off towards the biggest mission of his life.

\\\A short time later in the robot repair shop///

"_Lord Robotnik wishes that the repairs be made within thirty minutes. The blue one is going to be here in an hour or so," _stated Metal Sonic through his voice processors.

"_Yes whatever his lardness wants he shall get,"_ replied the head repairs bot, _"I need everyone to begin working on the prototypes' outer case immediately! Lord Robotnik orders it to be finished in thirty minutes!" _he commanded.

Metal Sonic opened up a small communicator on his wrist: _"Master,"_ he began,_ "the repair shop has just received their orders as you commanded,"_

"Good…what became of SWATbot 193xd?" Robotnik inquired. _"Well sir, I saw to it myself that he was properly disposed of,"_ remarked Metal. "Excellent," hissed the evil dictator, "Now, return at once we have more preparations to make before Sonic arrives,". _"Yes Master,"_.

\\\Fourty-Five Minutes Later: Outside of Snivelys' Headquarters Building///

"Ok guys I'm in front of the Control building," began Sonic, "how does the security look?"

"Sonic, we can't gain access to any of that information," replied Sally, "even with Rouges' computer skills we can't break the encryption,". "Oh iv only Rotor were still around," added Antoine over the radio, "he could do it,".

"Hey, what ever happened to him and Bunnie?" asked the azure hedgehog, "You never did tell me Sal,". "Well, Sonic, it's kind of a painful story," began the princess. "Well?" pressed Sonic, "I'm waiting,". Sally cleared her throat before continuing, Sonic could already tell she was choking up.

"Well, we were going into Robotropolis to do some recon a while back. We had penetrated deep into the city trying to make some accurate maps of the newly redone control building," she started. "You mean the one I'm standing in front of?", asked the blue blur. "Yes the very same," Sally managed while attempting to hold herself back from crying, but she couldn't manage to finish her tale before she was overcome with sadness so Antoine continued for her.

"Ve were working on charting out ze dungeons ven we were ambushed by ze SWATbots. We tried to make a run for it fighting off as many of zem as ve could, but as ve were making our escape a bot fired its' laser beams and collapsed a section of ze roof. The result was zat ze group was split into two: myself, ze prinzess, and ze Wolf Pack were on one side of ze rubble, and Rotor and Bunnie were trapped on ze other with all of ze SWATbots. We 'ave not 'eard from zem since,".

"So they were presumably captured then," began Sonic, "hm, there is a possibility that they may still be alive somewhere then,". "Sonic," Sally broke in between sobs, "right now you need to find Knuckles. We can worry about that later,". "Yes I am afraid zat I agree with her," added Antoine. "Yeah, you're right," agreed Sonic, "I'm gonna head around to the back of the building and see if there is a better way in than the front door,". "You better hurry Sonic. You have less than seven hours to get Knuckles out of there," stated Rouge. "Got it," finished Sonic.

And so the blue hedgehog began searching the Control Building for a suitable way in for him to begin his greatest fight yet. The clock is ticking.

* * *

Wow, this turned out way different than I had originally planned it. I could drag this thing out for a while or end it pretty quickly at this point, but I think that it would be safe to say that there will be about 12-14 chapters in all.

I seriously hope that you all are enjoying this story. Remember that I like to hear what you have to say, whether you wish to praise me, have something that you want cleared up, wish to give me advice on my writing technique, or have some plot suggestions. Feel free to leave a review or drop me a PM, whatever you want just try to avoid using a metric ton of offensive remarks (I don't mind a few though), and I'll be sure to respond to you.

Much love to all my readers,  
Sons of Ocelot


	10. Scheming and Planning

Hello everyone, I'm terribly sorry that I haven't been around for a while. I guess I just got caught up in the Holidays. Anyways I just wanted to thank everyone who has read this story so far and let you all know that this is now a two part fic. There will be 2-3 more chapters for this part and then I'll start the second part shortly thereafter and it is going to be tentatively titled "Into the Void".

Quick recap: the metal Knuckles prototype is being fixed up, Sonic is currently searching for a way into the main control building of Robotropolis, and Knuckles and Snively are locked in the dungeons far below.

* * *

"Hey everyone, I think I found a way in," Sonic reported back to Knothole over his PDA slash radio, "it looks like a ventilation duct, but it's probably one of the best ways to get in,".

"Roger that Sonic," affirmed Sally, "try not to get spotted by the SWATbots, or Snively or Robotnik,". "Alright, alright," the hedgehog replied with a hint of annoyance, "I won't go causing too much noise,". "OK, be careful…we're counting on you,". "Gotcha, I'm heading in now," and with that the blue blur carefully removed the cover of the vent shaft and sped off into the darkness.

\\\Inside the Master Control Room///

"_Lord Robotnik,"_ began the first in command SWATbot, _"there has been a reported breach of security in quadrant Q-14. Something about the air ducts. Would you like me to send down an assault team to assess the threat?"_

"No, no, that won't be necessary C-485. I already know who it is down there and where he is heading, however, I do need an updated status report on the Metal Knuckles prototype," replied Robotnik in an unusually pleasant and calm tone.

"_Yes your Lardness. I shall patch the repair shop through onto the monitors now,"_ and with that bot 485 pressed a few buttons before speaking. _"R-64, R-64, this is C-485. Dr. Robotnik would like to be updated as to what the current status is of the Prototype,"_ he finished.

"_The Prototype is under going it's final tune-ups now,"_ responded R-64. "Very good ROB, right on schedule. Send him up to me when he is finished there. I have a special task for him,". _"Yes oh Great Fat One." _"C-485, get Metal Sonic in here immediately. I require him as well,". _"Yes m'Lord,"_.

\\\Back inside the vent shaft///

"Whew, it shouldn't be too much further," Sonic mumbled to himself. The air duct smelled like a sewer, and was so dark he could barely see his hand in front of his face. He moved along the space with relative ease however, or at least until he got to a spot where the shaft got smaller and he had to crawl, _"Damn, I should've kept my mouth shut,"_. Almost ten minutes later he spotted a vent cover in the bottom of the enclosure.

Very carefully he peered down into the room and saw Knuckles sitting there. "Hey Knux," the cobalt hedgehog called in a hushed tone, "up here," and with that he removed the cover and lowered himself into the cell. "Hey where have you been?" Knuckles asked nonchalantly, "You sure do know how to keep a guy waiting don't you?"

"Sorry," replied the blur before noticing Snively leaning up against the wall. "You," he began with a bit of anger that made the poor man retreat a bit into the corner, "this is your doing, I'm gonna…" but he was cut off by the Echidna.

"No Sonic, you've got the wrong idea. Granted he did allow Robotnik to come back here and use the facilities, but this is none of his doing," he began motioning towards the battered and broken soul. "Robotnik betrayed him shortly after he arrived and I've already got all of the info out of him that I can anyways," Knux finished.

Sonic stood there for a second studying Snively's face. He was usually pretty good at judging whether someone was being truthful or not, and it didn't take long for him to agree that the story Knuckles had been told was, at least for the most part, the truth or so he thought anyways. "Ok then I have one question for him then," he stated finally, "What happened to Rotor and Bunnie?"

Snively swallowed hard, remembering the last time he had been asked questions before he spoke, "I'm sorry but…I-I sent them into t-the Void,". Sonic just lowered his head. He knew that there was a very slim chance that they could be alive still, but being in that realm for too long could have irreversible side-effects if you managed to survive. "I can help you get them and the Master Emerald back, as well as put an end to my uncle's plan," replied Snively suddenly, "I swear it,".

Sonic looked over to Knuckles. The look he received in reply was one of uncertainty, and the blue hedgehog stared long and hard at the man in front of him. Snively knew the access codes to open up the portal to the Void, but there was the small possibility that he had fabricated the entire story of his betrayal and that this was part of a scheme both he and Robotnik came up with. "Well even if this is part of something bigger, we're gonna have to trust him for the time being Knuckles," Sonic said after an extended silence. "So here's my next question…just how on earth am I supposed to get both of you out of here? That vent won't hold all three of us,".

"Don't worry Sonic," Snively started, "I have an idea,". The blue blur could see the genius of Snively's mind beginning to work as a twisted little grin appeared upon his bruised face. Even though the man seemed like a pushover and he didn't have as much of an intimidating presence as his uncle, it was entirely possible that he was just as smart (as evidenced by his fairly successful campaign against the Freedom Fighters), if not more so, as Buttnik. "Just remember hedgehog…once we have foiled dear Ivos' plan we will be on opposite sides once again,". "I didn't expect anything less from you," responded Sonic as the two shook hands. Neither one of them broke eye contact with the other for the longest time, each expecting the other to turn their temporary allegiance to one another over at any moment. "Alright so what's this plan of yours then Snivels?" Knux butted in. "Right, come over here and I'll explain. I don't want any bots over hearing us,".

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AN: Well I hope at least some of you didn't see that coming. Like I said above 1-2 more chapters for this fic and then I'll begin working on the second half of it. Also be on the lookout for the next installment of my "Knuckles' Party" series which is tentatively titled "Knuckles' Party: The Aftermath".

Till next time,

Happy Reading and Writing,

Sons of Ocelot


	11. Escape

**Quick Author Note: I'm so sorry I haven't updated this in so long. The new plan of attack on it is that it's going to be about another ten chapters. I'm no longer planning a two part fic as mentioned earlier. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?", questioned Sonic as Snively began putting his plan into action, "it just seems _too_ simple,".

The short man glanced over his shoulder at the blue hedgehog who for the time being was his ally, "Believe me. These bots are not as smart as you sometimes make them out to be,". He finished his remark as he turned his head to Knuckles.

With a nod of the former Sergeants' head Knuckles began his part of the plan, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!", he roared as he picked up the chair from the corner and began swinging it around. "No! P-P-Please do-d-don't!", cried Kintobor who truly sounded as though he was in trouble.

_**Crunch**_

Knux slammed the wooden chair into the wall and it splintered into about three pieces. "No, oh my God my shoulder!" screamed Snively as he popped his own arm out of the socket.

Sonic regarded him both with disgust and approval. That certainly was not something just anyone could pull off. Just then a SWATbot cracked the door open just a bit and asked, _"What is going on? What was that sound?"_

"Please," begged Snively, "he hit me with that chair and dislocated my shoulder. Please take me to the medical room,".

The bot stood there for a moment, obviously going over the situation inside his central processor. Finally he opened the door fully, _"Alright, come with me,"_ he stated as he moved just a slight bit into the room. Just as he did Sonic jumped from behind the inward swinging door and sawed the bot in half with a vertical spin dash.

"Ok that takes care of metal head, now how do we get out of here?" inquired the Blur of the Sergeant. "There is a staircase down the hall to the right," he answered as he reinserted his arm into the socket, and picked up the SWATbots blaster, "it will take us up to the first floor,".

"Then what are we doing standing here," added Knuckles, "lets move!"

The trio raced towards the staircase, but ran into two guard bots at the bottom of them. _"The prisoners have escaped,"_ one of them quickly reported into his radio before Snively blasted him in the chest sending sparks everywhere. A warning siren sounded somewhere off in the distance.

The second SWATbot charged at Sonic, but was caught off guard by Knuckles who had leapt into the air to deliver a powerful left hook into his helmet knocking him to the ground. "That's for putting me in that damned cell," he remarked as he drew his foot upwards. "And THIS," he exclaimed bringing it back down, "is for taking MY EMERALD!" The SWATbots' head exploded in a shower of sparks as the red Echidnas' foot stomped through it. Sonic was a bit taken aback by Knuckles demeanor. He had never quite seen him lose his cool like that.

"C'mon we have to move even quicker now," stated Snively, breaking the brief silence save for the sirens , "we have to get upstairs,".

"Leave it to me," began the cobalt hedgehog, "hang on!" He grabbed both Knux and Snively and bolted for the top of the stairs at warp speed.

When they reached the top, three SWATbots were there waiting for them, but hadn't expected the Blue Blur to drop his companions and blast through the old wooden door with a sonic spin like a spiked cannonball smashing right through them as well. "Man this is way too easy," he began as Snively and Knuckles came through the remains of the doorway while avoiding the sparking metallic debris, "there's gotta be more of 'em than this,".

"Yes I agree with you Hedgehog," stated Kintobor, "most of them are probably upstairs keeping guard over the control room,".

Sonic paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. Snively was more than likely right, and, much as the Blur hated to admit it, it wouldn't be smart for them to just run up to the third floor. "We need a way to get up there without running across too many of the guards," he finally spoke, "isn't there some sort of other way up there?"

"Yes actually I was thinking the same thing," Snively answered, "if we can get outside there is a walkway that links the top fourth floor of this building with the fourth floor of the building across the street. If we use that there is a good chance that we could move down to the third floor almost completely undetected," he finished.

Sonic made a quick glance over to Knux, "Honestly Sonic I think we need to go with Snivels plan. We don't have another option and if we just stand here thinking about it much longer they're gonna find us and then that plan goes null and void,".

"Alright, how do we get outta here?" asked the blue hedgehog.

"This way," said Snively as he lead them towards a door across the room. When he reached it he knelt down and looked through the crack between it and the floor, "all clear,".

Quietly the trio stepped through the opening and made their way down the dimly lit corridor. "This is strange," remarked Sonic, "no…it's way past strange. There is absolutely no one around here except us,".

"All the better for us then," commented Snively, "that means they don't know we're here yet,".

As the three continued to walk, following Snively's lead occasionally making a turn or going through a door, Sonic radioed in to Knothole Village, "Hey Sal,".

"Yes Sonic," came her voice. It seemed full of sadness still from her tale earlier, "what's the situation?"

"Well you aren't going to believe it but I managed to get Knuckles out of the dungeons,".

"Really?" she seemed relived at the news.

"Yeah, here say hi Knux," the hedgehog said as he handed the radio to the red echidna. "Hello, Princess Sally," he said curtly, "we're both fine so there's no need to worry 'bout us,".

"Thank heavens," she sighed, "So what's the story on the Master Emerald and that evil Robotnik? Not to mention that wretched cue ball nephew, Snively, of his,".

Sonic saw Kintobors' face twist into a scowl.

"Well you managed to believe that last bit so I'm really hoping you can believe this part," he stated, almost scared of what her reaction might be, "I'm walking beside said cue ball now,".

"I am not bald," snarled the sergeant, "I just have a receding hairline,".

Sally let out a gasp on the other end, "What?"

"Yeah," began Sonic, "he is right here with me. According to Knuckles, shortly after Buttnik got here he had Snivels open up the portal to the Void, and placed the emerald in there,".

After a moments pause he continued, "Then old blubber bolts turned the entire SWATbot army against him and had him imprisoned along with Knuckles,".

"So why is he with you now?" she questioned with a tinge of anger present in her voice.

"Because Sal, he is the only one other than Robotnik that knows the access codes to the portal going to the Void. Long story short if we don't trust him then we have no chance of getting the Master Emerald back," he finished.

"And what if he betrays us Sonic? What if he has a plan set up with his Uncle?"

"Sally that's just a chance that Knux and I are gonna have to take," the Blur stated, "Like I said him and Robotnik are the only ones that have the codes. Even if Rouge were to try and hack it there is only like a one in a million chance that she would get it,".

"Actually," Snively countered, "that likelihood is almost a one in three billion chance because you need three codes to open the door all of which are ten digits long,".

Sonic and Knuckles ignored him.

"Look, I gotta go now Sally. I'll give you an update in a half hour or so,".

"Alright, but be careful Sonic. You too Knuckles," she added before cutting the transmission.

"Ok gentlemen," began Snively, "just beyond this door is the outside world,". He motioned towards a big door in front of them. "Once we step outside we need to make a dash across the road and into the building directly across it. That is our goal, and the likelihood of there being any gaurds over there are very slim,".

"Alright let's go kick some robo butt," Sonic exclaimed as the trio opened the door.

\\\Inside the Master Control Room/

"Excellent," hissed Robotnik, a sick and twisted smile stretching across his face, "everything is going as planned,".

The evil dictator walked away from the monitors of the large control room back to his seat in it's midst, "Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles," he called as he sat back down, "go get in position. I'm expecting some company very soon," he finished in a menacing tone.

"_Yes Lord Robotnik, as you command. We will wait for your signal,"_ came the hollow response from Metal Sonic as both he and Metal Knuckles left the room.


	12. Prelude

The trio of Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, and Snively Kintobor burst through the door of a decrepit old building. It was an old hospital that now served as a guard tower of sorts. With all the sirens going off to signal Knuckles and Snively's escape many of the swatBOTs were flooding the lower two levels of the Master Control Tower.

"Were we spotted?" asked Snively.

"Not a chance," replied Sonic, "when we left the other building I took off at warp speed carrying the three of us across that road in a second flat. No chance they saw us,".

"Yeah," agreed Knux, "I don't think they saw us,".

"Well still," Kintobor responded cautiously, "we should probably take it easy heading up to the fourth floor,".

The Echidna and Hedgehog nodded in response as they started walking across the lower level to the elevator.

"No stop!" warned the former sergeant, "there are cameras directly across from the elevators on the upper levels. If we took them we would be located by Robotropolis' security teams in no time. We take the stairs,".

Sonic and Knux let out small exasperated sighs and proceeded to trudge up the stairs with Snively taking the front.

As the three temporary allies reached the second floor landing they heard a pair of metallic voices ahead of them and retreated down a few stairs to stay out of sight.

"_Did you hear?"_

"_What?"_

"_I just heard from BOT SC-316 that the sergeant and the red one escaped from the dungeons over in the main control tower,"._

"_Really? How did they manage that? Wasn't JB-007 watching their cell?"_

"_No, it was MS-068... Anyways he said that the blue one is with them and that he aided in their breakout,"._

The trio waited until the bots voices faded beyond the second floor door before proceeding towards their destination level.

"Huh," snorted Sonic, "sounds like they know you guys are free,".

"Yes," began Snively, "but what worries me is that they know _you_ are here,".

"Why does that worry you?" questioned Knuckles sounding somewhat confused.

"Because, that passage that we took," Snively started as they reached the fourth floor door and passed through it, "I never installed cameras in it. On top of that none of the SwatBOTs ever made the control room alert that Sonic is here,".

"Could one of the BOTs have used their optic sensors to take a picture of me and send it to them?"

"No, they simply don't have that capability," Snively answered the blue blurs' question as they reached the door leading to the outside walkway between their current location and the Control Towers fourth floor, "I don't like this,".

"I hear ya Snivels. But if they can't do that and there are no cameras in that area then that means," concluded Knuckles as they reached the halfway point between the buildings,"

"_You were followed,"_ finished a heartless metallic voice from behind them.

The three turned to see Metal Knuckles perched on top of the roof of the building they had just been in like a gargoyle, _"and unfortunately for you,"_ he paused…

"_WE CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO GO ANY FURTHER!"_ finished another soulless synthesized voice from behind them.

The next thing Sonic and Knuckles saw was a blindingly fast blue metal buzz saw fly past them, hitting Snively square in the back of his head. He landed on the ground with a hard thud, out cold, and bleeding from a deep cut on the back of his head.

Sonic glared at his robotic clone as it stopped a scant fifteen feet in front of him. It's shiny red companion dropped down to join it.

"_Our Lord Robotnik,"_ began Metal Sonic, _"Has authorized us to eliminate the three of you at any cost. It would appear that a third of our task has been completed,"._

Sonic just continued to stare at the blue and red robots with anger. Knuckles knelt down by Snively to assess his condition. "Damn! Sonic, this isn't good. We need to get him medical help quickly,".

"Find something to cover that wound Knux," instructed the blue blur still not taking his eyes off of their metal selves.

Knuckles noticed a pole bearing the flag of Robotropolis. He quickly lowered it and tore it in half to wrap around the injury on the back of Snively's head. "Sonic, we need to end this quickly or we'll lose him,".

"Then let's shred these metal heads," exclaimed the flesh and blood hedgehog as both he and Knuckles leapt toward their metal counterparts.

"_Show us what you've got,"_.

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Authors Notes: Sorry for the terrible delays everyone. I hope you all are enjoying the story still. Let me know what you think so far and feel free to comment and leave honest feedback.

Thanks

Sons of Ocelot


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